RBWords

     From the time of Cain and Abel, humans have known that inner conflict can result in outer conflict with deadly results.  Jesus' preaching in the Sermon on the Mount goes directly to the inner conflict.  We are not merely asked to refrain from injuring (or worse) our "enemy," we are asked to love that enemy.  The Letter of James confronts the inner conflict directly in today's second scripture.  Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.  We don't have to look further than the mirror to realize the potential destructiveness of human desire.  The media provide us daily with a vivid picture of what happens when those desires achieve a broader social stage.  Philosophers like Rene' Girard have proposed wide ranging theories to explain why this is so but ultimately it comes down to the human heart and mind, whether acting on a single or collective basis.

     I sometimes think that the "Golden Rule" has been reworded to say, "Do unto others as you expect they would do unto you, given the chance, and do it before they get the chance!"  This is why I find the line I highlighted above from James so powerful.  How can we "cultivate peace?"  Right now, it seems as if we cannot presume peace as the ordinary state of things, despite the vision of Genesis!  This state of potential conflict is reflected in the individualism that so characterizes our western cultural life-style.  "I have mine, and I hope you get yours, but stay away from mine!"  Have we allowed the prism of violence to be the principal source of light?  What became of the prism of peace?  Have we redefined peace as merely truce?  Have we enshrined as our way of life the line from Robert Frost's poem, "The Mending Wall,": "Good fences make good neighbors?"  

     I have a dear friend who is working on a doctorate in the field of "cultivating peace," and I hope she and others like her will help preachers like me to get the word out about cultivating peace so that we can enjoy the fruit of righteousness.  The alternative to this is already threatening to overwhelm us!  Until then, we can begin to pay more attention to those who cultivate peace by taking a good look at the crop in our own hearts!   AMEN